Organizational leadership is a skill that is praised in the scriptures.  In the Old Testament, Joseph and Nehemiah exhibited effective and efficient organizational leadership.  Moses did not and this is why God provided a “Jethro.”

In the Covenant we want all of our pastors to be good in spirituality, chemistry and strategy.  Often it is the strategic piece that is most lacking.  Pastors discover this deficiency after a few years out in the field.  CO-OP: Coaching of Pastors is “on the job training” for those pastors who want to grow in organizational leadership.

A cadre of healthy missional covenant pastors has recently completed 18 months of organizational leadership coaching.  These pastors received a weekly call from their coach.  Many of them are now ready to start coaching other Covenant pastors.

Is it worth it?  Well, listen to what these pastors said:

It has been great to have a ministry coach as a sounding board, brainstorm partner, resource person, and idea generator.  I appreciated the way my coach was able to adapt and help me in the context of what was taking place in the life of the church rather than requiring me to do assignments that had no connection with current needs. I feel I have become better at supervising my staff and that I have been able, with the collaboration of church leadership, to streamline our new ministry structure to be more efficient and effective.  Over this past year I have needed to hire for 3 positions, develop a leadership and team training process, create an evaluation process for me and my staff, and work through some delicate volunteer issues.  These are just a few of the things that my coach has helped me to navigate through this past year.

I see CO-OP as being a critical tool to build healthy missional pastors.  Incompetence in critical areas is bound to happen because of how multi-dimensional the pastoral role has become.  Such weaknesses will absolutely drain all of your ministry energy.  It is difficult to work through areas that you are not naturally strong in by yourself but the weekly help and encouragement of a coach can make it happen.  I think this is so “Covenant” in that we value getting things done in relationship, not in isolation.

The coaching experience has provided me with a wealth of tools that I can draw from in fulfilling my call as pastor.   The weekly calls with my coach were very practical and could address very “real” and very “now” issues in my day to day work.  There were a couple of key themes that kept surfacing:  design more do less, systems approach to everything, guidance in the hiring process, absolute need for Strategic Planning, working on my ministry not just in my ministry.  Coaching provided a language to discuss things and the courage to fully embody your call.

I feel that CO-OP will benefit mostly the isolated pastor.  Pastoring can be a very lonely calling and when you are struggling it is often easier to withdraw rather than reach out for help. And…the worse it gets the more isolated one can become. The weekly calls not only will serve the practical issues but will also provide companionship.  I would hope that a widespread coaching ministry could reduce the number of tragedies where individuals crash and burn or worse, act out in very destructive ways for their families and congregations.

Sound encouraging?  Click here for more information on how you can enroll in CO-OP.

February 18th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I was very, very encouraged when I received this email from Pastor Tammy Swanson-Draheim from First Covenant Church in Mason City, Iowa.

I am so proud of Tammy and the congregation for following through on the Veritas challenge to create a behavioral covenant.  She prefers to call it a “relational” covenant, which is a wonderful adaptation to the concept.   This is the “stuff” of compelling Christian community.

Thought I would share with you what we did here at First Covenant.  We worked on a relational covenant, then I preached on those guidelines over the summer… sermons on gossip, criticism, complaining, conflict (3 sermons on that topic), negativity, excellence, honoring leadership, and binding it all together… love.  It was a very popular and practical series.  At the end of our series we had a banner made with the covenant on it and the overarching Scripture we used at the bottom.  In the mid section it was blank and that part draped over our communion table.  During the service we invited people forward to sign (with indelible markers) their commitment to living out community life according to these guidelines.  It was a wonderful way to express our commitment to doing life together in a way that honors God and each other and is a tangible witness to our world.  It was very moving.  Now it is displayed on a stand for all to see and be reminded.  – Tammy

If you are interested in speaking with Tammy about her church’s experience or would like to see her sermon manuscripts and adapt them to your ministry setting, you may email her at mstammyk@aol.com.

Please keep those stories and resources coming to encourage the whole church.

October 27th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

This week I received a prayer letter from Blessing Point Ministries. Their role is to help churches in the revitalization process.

What caught my attention is the “testing phase” and how this is similar to what some churches experience after they attend Veritas.

Check it out…

When a church responds to the Lord and addresses the things He says need attention, there is often an initial surge of new vitality into the church. We note a pattern in such churches. As they continue their journey there is often unexpected conflict. We see this as a testing phase where Christ looks to see what is truly in the heart of His Bride. The question is: how will the newly blessed church handle the conflict? Will it be in a way God can bless or does it reveal superficiality in the church’s original repentance?

Have you found this to be true after your church went through Veritas?

What does this conflict reveal about the heart of your church? What does Christ see?

How are you seeking to manage the conflict in a healthy way?

June 19th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

American industry will never be the same.  On Monday, G.M. declared bankruptcy.  This story is all over the media and many pundits are weighing in on what went wrong from a business perspective.

I want to turn the conversation to a spiritual one.  Now, I am not a businessman or an economist, but I’ve been wondering what our denomination, conferences and local churches can learn from the decline and fall of G.M.

My intention asking this question is not to compare the church to a business or to advocate the “consumer church.”  But in terms of human behavior and institutional resistance to change, what can we learn from G.M.’s collapse?

Here are some lessons I’ve learned:  Most people within G.M. probably thought the company would be around forever and this perception lulled the company to sleep.  They didn’t realize that what got them here wouldn’t get them there.  They didn’t seem to pay attention to how the culture was shifting.  And for a long time, they were not willing to make the tough decisions.  Now, those decisions have been forced upon them.

For sure, this is a complicated issue and one that cannot be oversimplified, but as a community of Christ followers seeking to change the world, is there something God wants to teach us in regard to the health and mission of the church using this very current and painful event?

Any thoughts?

June 5th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (3)

Dave Olson is my good friend and colleague.  In a meeting once, I heard someone ask him to describe the ministry of church planting in the Covenant.  I was intrigued by the way Dave answered the question.

Dave said, “Here are the five questions we are seeking to answer in the ministry of church planting.”  And then he listed them one by one.  With each question, I found myself becoming more and more engaged.  Dave was so effective in communicating the purpose and direction of this important ministry.

Right then and there I resolved to do the same regarding the ministry of congregational vitality in established churches.  So here are ten questions that describe the ministry of congregational vitality in the Evangelical Covenant Church:

1. How do we (as Church Growth and Evangelism and conference staff) discern the Holy Spirit’s movement and then follow the Spirit wherever the Spirit leads?
2. How do we honor and learn from our past as mission friends and continue in this Covenant ethos for generations to come?
3. How do we train pastors and lay leaders to lead healthy missional churches and think in terms of spirituality, chemistry and strategy?
4. How do we help churches confront their current reality with truth and grace?
5. How do we partner with denominational conferences and departments to further the movement of congregational vitality?
6. How do we identify and connect with a new generation of pastors and lay leaders to accelerate and deepen the movement of congregational vitality?
7. How do we identify a specialized group of pastors to lead revitalization in select churches?
8. How do we ensure that the movement is more organic than programmatic?
9. How do we respond to institutional resistance to change while remaining open to constructive feedback?
10. How do we find resources to help fund revitalization?

One of the benefits to having these questions is that they invite response and dialogue. They also serve as definable benchmarks and points of accountability along the journey.  And I just want to say today… the journey is good!

Reflections:

As you look over these questions, what do you like?  What, if anything, is missing?

As you reflect on your own ministry, what are some key questions you would use to describe it?  How would you answer those questions?  How might others answer them?

May 28th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Covenant pastor in his mid thirties designed a tee-shirt that grabbed my attention:

VERITAS ME.  I Can Handle the Truth.

I admire this pastor’s courage to let the truth come out about himself and the congregation he leads. When I see pastors and congregations willing to confront their current reality in a civil, compassionate and Christ honoring way, it gives me great hope for the future.

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). You shall know the truth (that’s reality) and the truth will set you free (that’s vitality). As we say in Veritas, “There is no vitality without reality.”

For whatever reason there are some pastors and congregations who cannot handle the truth. Perhaps their family system does not allow truth telling, or maybe the pastor feels threatened or is just coasting until retirement. Maybe the congregation is so entrenched that the status quo must be maintained at all costs. Maybe it’s fear, denial, insecurity, pride, blame, scapegoating, risk aversion, “niceness”, peace-mongering or something else that keeps pastors and congregations from confronting their current reality. I’m still trying to figure this out.

But I certainly do have hope! A 63-year old Covenant pastor recently sent me his take on Veritas:

In my 35+ years of ministry, Veritas is the single most important “strategy” to come down the road. Churches are spending time “goal setting, dreaming, and scheming” without taking a hard look at themselves, i.e. discovering what kind of church they are and what that means about their decision-making process and what needs to take place. I’ve participated in a number of these (Covenant) programs and while seeing value in them, for the most part, have always been left with a church unable to get off the mark because it hasn’t understood who it is.

This particular pastor has exemplified healthy missional leadership throughout the discernment process. This is especially meaningful to me because of this pastor’s proximity to retirement. It is truly exceptional and praiseworthy. I wish this kind of evaluation and transparency were just normal and natural, regardless of the pastor’s age or the age of the congregation.

Sadly, I have heard comments from other pastors like, “I’ve been Veritased” or “I’ve been Veri-teased” or “I’ve been Veri-tossed.”  I wonder what is behind these comments.

Hmmm… Care to weigh in on this?

In reality, Veritas merely provides the language to talk about what’s already been going on for years. Veritas helps both the pastor and congregation take a look in the mirror and come to grips with the way things are – the good, the bad and the ugly. Veritas helps pastors and churches to discover who they really are… it is a matter of identity.

To be sure, it is stressful to confront the truth and have the truth confront you.  C. Everett Koop said, “Reality is the leading cause of stress among those who are in touch with reality.”

The goal of Veritas is to help churches become healthy and missional. By “healthy” we mean pursuing Christ. By “missional” we mean pursuing Christ’s priorities in the world.

Of course any tool like Veritas can be used appropriately or inappropriately. This is why we stress behavioral covenants so much and the need for a Veritas facilitator.

If you would like to host a Veritas workshop for your church, you can do so live or through a DVD. Simply contact your conference office or order the DVD through the online bookstore.

May 21st, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (6)

Being a pastor in today’s world is complex and challenging. Dallas Willard once told our D.Min. class, “There is so much pressure on pastors to succeed.” I know. I was one for 21 years.

While serving as a pastor I sometimes felt alone and discouraged. There were times when I simply did not know how to proceed. I had come to the edge of my education and I knew something was missing for me as a leader.

In seminary, I learned how to be a spiritual leader, but not an organizational leader. And yet, when I look at Scripture, I now see organizational leadership from Genesis to Revelation. Think about Jethro advising Moses in Exodus 18, or the Apostles creating the Deacons ministry in Acts 6. Actually, organizational leadership and spiritual leadership are two sides of the same coin. They compliment one another.

Imagine receiving a one hour phone call from your personal ministry coach every week for 12 to 18 months. Imagine having a conversation about the hot topics in your church and getting an outside perspective. Imagine moving from being a doer to a designer. Imagine turning vision into reality through the support of another Covenant pastor. Imagine God working through this dynamic relationship of encouragement and guidance.

Unfortunately, I did not have this kind of support. If I had, I could have done a much better job of loving God and loving people.

ECC Certified Coaches

Over the last 12 months, 20 Covenant pastors have been experiencing such a relationship with their Ministry Advantage Coach. It has a made a difference in how they lead. I wish everyone could have heard the good things these pastors had to say about their experience of being coached. This cohort of 20 pastors met for their third time in Chicago last week for a coaching certification workshop. You may recognize some of the people in the picture.

Let me back up. Early in 2008, Church Growth and Evangelism signed a partnership agreement with Ministry Advantage to develop a cadre of our own ECC coaches. Twenty pastors were selected, and over the last 12 months they have been receiving weekly phone calls from their Ministry Advantage coaches. They have grown in their ability to lead both technically and adaptively…to help their churches become more healthy and missional. We have made and continue to make a significant investment in this group of pastors.

Over the next few months, this first generation of ECC coaches will be ready to coach other ECC pastors. We are creating a management team to guide this transition. Give us time to work out the details.

There is more information on the coaching experience on the coaching section of this blog. If you want to receive coaching right now, you can sign up for MA using our denominational discount. If not, you can wait until our own coaches are ready. Let us know either way, and we will get back to you.

If you are not a pastor and you would like to share this with your pastor, just pass on the link. This is a significant way that you can invest in your pastor.

…

(First row: Ed Lee, Russ Olmon, Garth McGrath, Scot Gillan, Mark Pattie, John Martz, Karen Lichlyter-Klein, Penny Nance;  Second row: Alan Forsman, Ken Larson, Nils Peterson, Jeff Burton, Mark Nilson, Heidi Wiebe, Darrell Griffin, Tammy Swanson-Draheim;  Third row: Mark Severson, Lonnie Gienger, Marc Eix, Russ Carlson, Glenn Peterson, Stacey Littlefield, Brent Thompson, John Wenrich, Dave Lindfors.
To view a larger version of the photo, right-click and select ‘View Image.’ Photo taken by Ed Lee.)

May 12th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The journey of revitalization is both adventurous and treacherous. During the adventurous part of the journey, you can just feel the love, baby. I wish I could sing it like Barry White!

It is during the treacherous part of the journey that a Behavioral Covenant really comes into play. How do we walk in hand in hand when we can’t see eye to eye? The Behavioral Covenant answers that question.

A Behavioral Covenant is the conversation before the conversation. It is the conversation about how we are going to have the conversation.

The journey of revitalization at first looks very exciting and some churches rush into it. But it is much better to go slow than to go fast. Before you begin the journey, spend some time developing a Behavioral Covenant. You will be glad you did, when the going gets tough later on.

The chemistry factor is huge while on the journey of revitalization.

Keep these things in mind when creating a Behavior Covenant:

1. Let the Behavioral Covenant flow out of Word and Spirit.
2. Invite everyone to have a say. People are down on what they are not up on.
3. Develop this Covenant while the sun is shining rather than when the storm is raging.
4. Look at the samples but make it specific to your congregation. One congregation was being ripped apart by vicious emails. So they decided to include something about face to face communication.
5. Preach on each point in a sermon series. Tell stories of exemplary behavior.
6. Hold a service of consecration.
7. Read out loud the Behavioral Covenant before every congregational and leadership meeting. Inculcate this into the DNA of your church.
8. Be prepared for push back. “Why do we need a behavioral Covenant? We’re all Christians here! Besides, all of this is in the Constitution and Bylaws.” My response would be something like… “Did you ever see Christians behaving badly at a congregational business meeting or engaging in parking lot conversations that thwart the decisions the congregation just made in the business meeting?”
9. Know that you are not alone. Across the ECC, churches are seeing the wisdom of Behavioral Covenants and are moving forward.
10. As the name suggests, Behavioral Covenants focus on behaviors, not motives.

I invite you to send me your Behavioral Covenant. We are collecting samples so that others can benefit from the work God is doing in your church.

May 4th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (2)

Julie and I are members at Hope Covenant Church in Crystal Lake, Illinois. We started attending when we moved here three years ago. Within weeks of our arrival, the senior pastor resigned for another call, then an interim served for a year and now we have a new senior pastor. I am learning first hand what it feels like to be a parishioner in the midst of transition.

Hope Covenant is a classic stable church. But what really excites me is that this stable church is intentionally moving forward to become a healthy missional church. The church leadership is guiding the congregation in making bold missional decisions.

For example, the church recently reconfigured the Sunday morning worship schedule. The letter that I received brought joy to my soul!

Listen…

…

Dear Hope Friends and Family,

Your Church Council is excited to announce our new worship schedule beginning the first Sunday after Easter. We have been praying through the vision statement brought to us by the Vision Task Force and voted into place by our congregation this fall – asking God for what steps he would like us to take to put action to our words.

We consulted with the Covenant Church’s Veritas development resources and our Ministry Advantage coaching team and the advice was clear – the best time to welcome people new to our fellowship was right in the middle of our education hour. So with some trepidation, but mostly excitement, we have stepped out in faith.

There are lots of things we are working on – parking, ushering, action zone, and nursery – there will be lots of opportunities for service. We invite your participation on this journey with God as he uses us to help the community during these very turbulent times. Please pray for your Church, its leaders and volunteer teams in this transition, but also please pray for a bountiful harvest of new believers and friends.
…

I am so proud of Hope Covenant Church! They gave their very best hour to the harvest and I am confident in the Lord that he will bless our church as a result. We are growing in our commitment to be inconvenienced for the sake of the gospel. I have never been more excited about our church than I am right now!

To be honest, there are some things I do not like about our church. But what else is new? Yet I keep coming back because people are meeting Christ. And I believe that the leaders are seeking to bring missional alignment to all we say and do.

The church brought thirty people to Veritas, the pastor is being coached by Ministry Advantage, there is a prayer meeting every week and the church is working on a behavioral covenant. That’s momentum and ministry muscle!

Success is not defined in terms of congregational size or how large the building is. Success is defined in terms of healthy and missional. By “healthy” we mean pursuing Christ. By “missional” we mean pursuing Christ’s priorities in the world.

To be sure, there are some challenging days ahead for Hope Covenant. But now it feels like I’m on an adventure and I can hardly wait to see what God does next! That sense of anticipation is a dynamic that you will find in a healthy missional church…and that is what Hope Covenant is becoming.

Reflection Questions:

1. How committed is your church to being inconvenienced for the sake of the gospel? What evidence can you point to?
2. When is the last time someone came to know Christ in or through the ministry of your church?
3. Is your congregation making bold missional decisions and following through? Or are bold missional decisions being blunted in the name of niceness and underlying selfishness? When is the last time your congregation made a bold missional decision?
4. What is the level of intentionality in your church to move forward and reach your full kingdom potential in Christ? What is holding you back? Fear, dissension, comfort zones…?
5. It is estimated that 33% of established ECC churches are in the stable category. What would happen if these stable churches were convicted by the Holy Spirit and began to move forward to become healthy missional churches? How would that change the contour of the Covenant? What would that mean for the harvest? How many lives would be redeemed?
6. What role does prayer play in all of this?
7. How do pastors and lay leaders guide healthy missional change in a way that is civil, compassionate and Christ honoring? For more information, click on EPIC.

April 23rd, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment